Na-Na-Na-Na-Boo-Boo

I don't know about you, but tattle-telling is hot business with my three oldest.  It seems I spend my day asking them, "Did you talk to so-and-so before you came to me?"  Of course they usually haven't, or if they have, it wasn't it the nicest of tones.  So I send them off again to work out their issues.  First Daughter knows how her Dad and I feel about tattle-telling, so she does something that totally cracks us up.  If she's involved in a situation with her big brother, we might hear something like this from the next room:
"Stop!  You took my book from me and won't give it back!"
That's her way of tattle-telling without coming directly to us with the issue.  I guess she thinks that if we hear her exposition on the situation, we will come running in and take over.  ;-)

Yesterday I came across a great blog entry by Rob Wilkerson on his blog, MOG.  The title of the entry he wrote is "Father Forgive Them..." - Applying the Gospel to Tattle-Telling - Again  Rob has great insight into this topic that is mostly a thorn in the side of parents.  Here's a great excerpt:

Again, the motivation of the tattle-tale is not to help or serve or protect. Instead it is has multiple sources. Perhaps it is to make themselves look important in the eyes of others. That's usually a key motivation for my children. Or perhaps it is to see them get in some sort of trouble, to be censured, to be reprimanded, terminated from their job, etc. This is also a key motivation for my children. Perhaps it is merely because such communication methods are second-nature to them and they can't help themselves. This has to be dealt with seriously. All of these motivations reveal something significant going on in the heart, and if that can be discovered and addressed then the problem of tattle-telling can be repented of. This is the most key factor in dealing with this sin.

The entire entry is so good.  Check it out and maybe enjoy reading a new-to-you blogger.  :-)